Andy Appleby's Derby County closer to $200M Premier League windfall

Derby County players (black shorts) — owned by a U.S. consortium headed by a Rochester businessman — have a shot at making it to the elite Premier League.

English soccer club Derby County, owned since 2008 by a U.S. consortium headed by Rochester sports entrepreneur Andy Appleby, is on the cusp of a $200 million revenue windfall after Sunday’s second playoff victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.

Derby County’s 4-1 home victory at iPro Stadium earned the Rams the right to face with Wigan Athletic or Queens Park Rangers on May 24 at Wembley Stadium in London.

The winner will be promoted to the Premier League, and is guaranteed millions of pounds in new revenue via the 20-team soccer association’s enormous global television contracts.

Derby is in the promotion playoff after securing third place in the second-tier Football League Championship.

Derby beat Brighton 2-1 on May 8 in the first playoff match. The Championship league promotion playoffs have clubs play home-and-home matches before the winners (by aggregate goals) advance to the final at Wembley.

Wigan and QPR play their second match today. The first, on May 9, was a 0-0 draw.

Appleby, a former Detroit Pistons executive, is Derby County F.C. Ltd.’s chairman. He fronted the group that paid $100 million — and assumed $25 million in debt — for the club in January 2008.

He is owner of Rochester-based General Sports and Entertainment LLC, a sports marketing and services firm he opened in 1998.

Derby last played in the Premier League, for one season, in 2007-08.

The Rams finished the 2013-014 regular season with 25 victories, 10 draws and 11 losses, good for 85 points in the standings — most in the club’s history.

Derby has averaged 25,000 fans per game this season at 33,597-seat iPro Stadium, good for second in the league. Premier League teams this season averaged 36,456 per game.

Derby, founded in 1884 and nicknamed the Rams, plays a 46-game schedule. The Rams’ only top-level championships were in 1972 and 1975.

Leicester City and Burnley were automatically promoted to the Premier League for next season by finishing in the top two spots in the Championship league standings.

Relegation from the Premier League to the Championship next season will be Cardiff City, Fulham and Norwich City.